They'll Find You Eventually
by Aquamacaw
Summary: When their parents go out, midnight turns into Val and Brooke Lanier's worst nightmare... or close to it anyways.


She dialed the seven numbers quickly, shaking loose the jitters that were numbing her.

"Hello?" a girl's voice answered, a twinge of annoyance in her voice at whoever would be calling her at midnight.

Val cringed as she looked at the clock, ticking and ticking. _Tick. Tick._

"Hey, Caitie," she greeted. "My parents are out tonight, and it's just me and Brooke. Do you want to come over?"

"Val, hello? It's twelve in the night. Get real."

"Well, it's just that-" _Click_. "Hello? Caitie? Caitie?"

Val pressed the 'end conversation' button and tried picking up the phone again. No dial tone.

The phone was dead.

_That's weird,_ thought Val. _The phone was just working a second ago._

*

Meanwhile, Caitie was confused. _Does Val want me to come over or not?_ Since Val had hung up so abruptly, she figured the answer was a no.

_It's worth a try,_ Caitie said to herself, tapping out the numbers she was so used to dialing.

"I'm sorry, but the number you have called has been disconnected. Please try again."

"Huh?" Caitie wondered out loud. Had she dialed Val's phone number wrong? She tried again.

"I'm sorry, but the number you have called has been disconnected. Please try again."

Caitie had a feeling it was one of Val's pranks. After all, her alarm clock read 12:02, so it was two minutes into April first. Val had always loved April Fool's Day.

*

Val was more than frightened. She was absolutely petrified. Her phone was dead, her parents were out, and it was the middle of night!

Brooke was watching the television. "This is so great," she commented to Val. "Mom and Dad are out, so let's call up some friends and party!"

Val shook her head in despair. "No. We can't. The phone line is dead."

"Really?" Brooke didn't sound worried. "Yeah, I heard there's a storm coming. I bet it has something to do with that. Man, I really wanted to invite a few friends over. It's a perfect night to do so. April Fool's Day, parents gone… and I bet all my friends are awake, too."

That did sound like a good idea to Val. Maybe having a couple of people at their house would help get rid of her nervousness.

"Hey, but you know what? We can use Mom's cell phone. I saw it on the counter earlier today."

Brooke's eyes lit up. "Sure. I'll go get it." She ran into the kitchen. A moment later, "Val? Where? I don't see it."

"It's right on the counter," Val replied, ambling into the room. "Right over- huh?"

There was no cell phone to be seen.

"I swear it was there last time I was in here," Val informed her sister in puzzlement.

"And when was that?"

Val threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Like, half an hour ago, when I re-heated the leftover macaroni! And I know Mom didn't take it with her, 'cause she and Dad left hours ago!"

"This is weird," Brooke mused, and Val could hear a hint of anxiety in her voice.

"No duh. It'll turn up, but for now, we won't be able to have the party." Val headed back towards the family room.

"Yeah, that totally sucks. Want to watch some TV with me?" Brooke inquired, settling onto the couch and changing the channel. "Ooh, look, 'Friends' is on."

Val glanced at her watch. 12:06. "Now? I didn't know it comes on at this hour."

"It doesn't," Brooke said matter-of-factly. "Weird. Well, I don't care. I'm watching this."

"So am I," agreed Val, squirming into the thick, comfortable couch.

_Ding-dong._

"Was that from the TV?" Val asked, staring at the door.

"Nope," responded Brooke immediately. "This scene has nothing to do with the door. I guess it's our doorbell then."

Val rose from the couch warily. "Come with me. I don't know who would come to our door in the middle of the night."

"Fine," grumbled Brooke. "It's a commercial break anyways."

The two sisters approached the door unhurriedly, Val in front. "Okay, here goes," announced Val shakily, throwing open the door.

No one was at the door.

Val flipped on the outside light switch, but the bulbs had already burned out. She stepped onto the porch carefully, and-

"Ahh!" she screamed, tripping over something in the doorway.

"Val, are you okay?" Brooke questioned, laughing a little. "Hey. What's that?" She beckoned to a medium-sized box on the 'Welcome' mat.

"I don't know," Val said, picking up the box and bringing inside the house. Brooke closed the door firmly and followed her sister into the kitchen. "Should we open it?"

"It's addressed to us, and I guess the post man just delivered it or something, since it has our address," guessed Val.

"But the post man doesn't deliver mail at midnight, Val."

Val examined the box. "You're right. Well, I don't care. I'm opening it."

"Alright… let me help." Brooke began ripping layers of tape off the box.

When all of the tape had been fully removed, Val peeled back the flaps of the box.

"It's…" Brooke trailed off. "Air?"

The box was empty.

"This is really freaky," mentioned Val, stating the obvious. "Dead phone line, disappearing cell phone, 'Friends' showing at a midnight, no one at the door, empty package…"

_Scratch_.

"What was that?!" Brooke shrieked, clinging onto her older sister.

"Probably a branch. C'mon, let's watch some TV," Val suggested, trying to assure Brooke that everything was all right, even though it wasn't.

"Okay, if you're sure," Brooke said. "Hey. Look. 'Friends' isn't on anymore. And it's only… twelve thirteen."

Val raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, right. It's not the same channel, I bet."

"You're right, it isn't. But wait. I never changed the channel…"

"Oh, shut up. You're just freaking me out on purpose. I'm sure you did." Val sounded exasperated. "Now change the channel back to 'Friends'."

"Fine," Brooke gave in, "but I swear, I didn't change the channel. Darn it! Remote control's batteries are out _again_. I just changed them yesterday! What's up with that?" she cried, snapping the old batteries out of the socket and replacing them with new ones. "Here. This should work now."

Brooke tried changing the channel again. "What?! These don't work either? Stupid. Cheap batteries. What's this brand? _Mega-Cheap Batteries_? What the heck? We never bought these batteries! We always get the premium, best batteries, no cheap ones like _these_."

"Calm down, jeez. I'm sure Mom got them or something. And maybe they were already used before and someone put them back into the drawer," Val reasoned.

"Forget it. We ran out of batteries, anyway. I remember we got a whole pack last weekend, though! This is messed up. Let's just use the TV controls, then." Brooke reached towards the TV and switched the channel back to the one 'Friends' had been on.

"It's not 'Friends'! This is just some stupid show. C'mon, let's go on the computer or something!"

"Later… this looks like an interesting show, Brooke. Let's watch until 12:30, and then we can go on the computer." Val settled back and watched the TV intently.

"Hey!" Brooke suddenly exclaimed. "That girl looks like you!"

Val leaned forward. "Yeah. You're right! She does! And that resembles you!"

"And these two lovely kids are Valerian and Brookien," the TV announced. "If you see them, please call Stalkers Anonymous at 1-800-I-STALK-U. We want these girls, and we want them NOW."

"OH MY GOD!" Brooke screamed. "WHAT SHOW IS THIS?!"

"'Kids Who Should Be Stalked' will be back in a minute, after these messages from our sponsors," the television blared.

"OH MY GOD!" Brooke screamed again. "OH MY GOD!"

"Brooke…" Val whispered, placing her hand over her sister's mouth, "you have to be quiet. If the stalkers want to get us, we have to pretend we're not here." Inside, though, she was melting from absolute terror.

"That won't be a problem," a voice said.

"What?" Val looked confused as she stared at her sister.

Brooke looked around wildly. "I didn't say anything!"

Val shuddered. "Then… then… who was that?"

"Let me repeat myself. The environment is becoming polluted. If everyone recycles their cans, that won't be a problem," a bald man with a gray goatee broadcasted from the TV.

"Wait a minute," Brooke paused, gazing at the man. "He looks familiar. That's-"

"Grandpa!" Val shrieked. "Oh my god! What's he doing on TV?"

Before Brooke could respond, the images of Valerian and Brookien appeared on 'Kids Who Should Be Stalked' again.

"Wahhh!" Brooke started to bawl. "Val, I'm scared!"

Val quickly pressed the TV control to change the channel, but the two girls' pictures still floated on every channel.

She attempted to turn off the television. "It's not turning off!" she cried. "What's wrong with our TV?!"

Brooke sobbed more at this, her face layered in tears and her eyes pink.

_Ring. Ring._

Val jumped. "The phone's disconnected though!" She cautiously crept into the kitchen. "Brooke, oh my…" she said in an undertone.

The cell phone was neatly placed on the counter, just where Val had seen it earlier. And both the cell phone _and_ the regular home phone were ringing.

At that point, Val really didn't want to pick up the cell phone, so she reached for her portable phone. But what if her parents were calling the cell phone because the regular phone was disconnected?

Val decided to answer the regular phone first.

"Hello…?" she said uncertainly.

"Hey, Val." Val felt like screaming from joy at the familiar voice.

"Caitie!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're calling!"

"Ha ha ha…" a low laugh came from the other line.

Val was puzzled. "Huh?"

_Click._

The phone was disconnected again.

Meanwhile, the cell phone was still ringing.

"H-hello?" Val was freaked out, and it was apparent in her voice.

"Yes, hello. This is Stan Miller. My caller ID says that you just called me. Who is this?"

"Wha-a-at-"

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention. I'm from Stalkers Anonymous. Are you calling to report a sight of Valerian and Brookien? We are still stalking them. However, we have not found them yet, although we are very close."

Val was just about to hang up when she had an idea. "Yes, sir, I was calling about that. I was vacationing in…" she quickly thought of a faraway but not unbelievable place, "… South Africa. Yeah, that's it, South Africa. And I remember seeing two girls who looked remarkably like the Valerian and Brookien on television." She let out a huge breath, and glanced down at her fingers. They were ghostly white from gripping the counter.

"May I have your name, please? We require the names of all the people who contact us," Stan said professionally. "And if you lie, we can track down your phone number. After all, we are stalkers."

Oh my god… Val panicked. "My name?" she asked, stalling. 

"Yes, your name. If you don't answer, my computer will automatically trace your name in a few seconds. You know, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were Valerian or Brookien." A chuckle could be heard from the other end.

"Joanna!" Val shouted suddenly. It _was_ her mom's cell phone, after all. "My name is Joanna!"

"Val!" Brooke screamed from the TV room.

The voice on the phone laughed at this and said coldly, "Val, eh?"

_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_

_Disclaimer: Don't own In A Heartbeat, never did._

_Author's note: MUAHAHAHAH. I think that's the end of this._


End file.
